Award-winning palliative care course for paramedics and Emergency Medical Service professionals.

LEAP™ Paramedic is a blended learning course for paramedics and Emergency Medical Service professionals that teaches the essential practical knowledge, attitudes, and skills to provide a palliative care approach on-site. LEAP™ Paramedic is taught by local paramedic experts and experienced palliative care practitioners.

“LEAP™ Paramedic is hands down the best training I’ve taken in 10 years. It gave me the in-depth medical knowledge I need to explain things to patients and also to communicate effectively with other health care professionals.”

Advance Care Paramedic Brock Bowett
Learn more about his story.

Delivery modes

LEAP™ Paramedic can be delivered through a hybrid model.

Who is it for?

LEAP™ Paramedic is ideal for paramedics and Emergency Medical Service professionals.

LEAP™ Paramedic promotes teamwork, enhances transitions of care, and catalyzes quality improvement initiatives in daily practice and within teams.

Course features

• • • Interprofessional approach
    • Built by Canadian palliative care experts
    • Learners receive a LEAP™ certificate of completion.
    • Hybrid features:
      • • 11 interactive, self-learning online modules completed at your own pace (approximately 8 hours of work).
        • 6 hours of face-to-face learning led by LEAP™ facilitators. Learners will work through case studies and discuss learnings from online modules.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of LEAP™ Paramedic, learners should be able to:

• • • Identify patients who could benefit from a palliative care approach earlier in the illness trajectory.
    • Describe a framework to assist in making clinical decisions related to palliative and end-of-life care.
    • Assess and recommend an initial treatment plan for pain; delirium; dyspnea; and nausea, vomiting, and hydration.
    • Recognize signs and symptoms of palliative care emergencies.
    • Perform essential discussions related to palliative and end-of-life care in daily work.
    • Recognize signs of imminent death and describe your role in preparing patients and families for last days and hours.

“We chose LEAP™ because it is well established in Canada and the curriculum has benefited from that experience. We have found the training program has been exceptional and the material is flexible enough to be appropriate for many different types of providers and clinical settings. The instructors have all been excellent. I find it has been a great benefit to not only enhance my own medical practice, but also form a shared language and mental model to help better coordinate with our palliative care specialists.”

Dr. Clare Wallner, Associate Medical Director of the Hamilton Health Sciences Centre for Paramedic Education and Research

Topics covered include

• • • Taking Ownership
    • Decision-Making and Advance Care Planning
    • Pain
    • Dyspnea
    • Nausea, Vomiting, and Hydration
    • Palliative Emergencies
    • Psychosocial Distress
    • Shifting Paradigms
    • Clinical Scenarios and Decision-Making
    • Delirium
    • Pain and Gastrointestinal Symptoms
    • Essential Conversations
    • Respiratory and Last Days